WORLD NEWS

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday laid out plans for Moscow to develop mid-range missiles banned under a Cold War treaty with the United States if Washington abandons the deal. Tensions have raged over the fate of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty (INF), with US President Donald Trump promising to walk away from the agreement and Putin threatening a new arms race. Washington this month said it would withdraw from the INF within [...]

Following far-reaching snowstorms from November and early December, a lack of Arctic air will generally limit the chances of a white Christmas to the northern tier states and the mountains of the West for Dec. 25, 2018. [...]

Sphero's on-going deals are about more than just priming the pump for the holidays. The Colorado robotic toy startup is also in the process of cleaning out inventory of what are now be marked “legacy” products on its site. All of the Disney licensed products now carry a “THIS IS A LEGACY PRODUCT AND NO LONGER IN PRODUCTION” tag, and in many cases are no longer available through Sphero's site.
The move is no surprise, of [...]

Human Rights Watch releases footage showing men with scars from alleged ‘pushbacks'Human Rights Watch (HRW) has released footage of men bearing prominent scars on their backs as it accused Greek police of inflicting beatings on migrants and asylum seekers illicitly entering the country across the land border from Turkey.The US-based group said the injuries depicted in the footage, shot in Edirne in Turkey in August, were sustained during attacks by Greek police engaged in alleged [...]

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Organizers of an upcoming Vatican summit on sex abuse prevention are warning that the credibility of the Catholic Church is in jeopardy over the abuse scandal and are urging participants to meet with victims personally before coming to Rome. [...]

Rolling coverage of the day's political developments as they happen, including Theresa May chairing cabinet where ministers are discussing planning for a no-deal BrexitNo 10 lobby briefing - Snap summary 2.28pm GMTSir Mark Sedwill, the cabinet secretary, recently said he wanted to crack down on cabinet leaks. That doesn't seem to be going well. These are from my colleague Heather Stewart and Sky's Beth Rigby on what happened at cabinet.Amber Rudd apparently told this morning's [...]

Flynn to learn fate at US district court at about 11am ETTrump wishes him ‘good luck' in early-morning tweet barrage 2.24pm GMTGood morning and welcome to the Guardian's coverage of the day's political news.Michael Flynn is will be sentenced at 11am ET for lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russia during the presidential transition. Donald Trump's former national security adviser will discover his fate at US district court for the District of Columbia. [...]

A little taste of 5G is coming early, courtesy of AT&T's new mobile hotspot. The carrier announced this morning that it will be firing up limited 5G service in a dozen cities across the U.S. this Friday, currently only accessible via the Netgear Nighthawk 5G Mobile Hotspot.
Those who pick the router up will be able to access the new network speeds in Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Houston, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Louisville, Oklahoma City, New Orleans, Raligh, San [...]